STAND. COM. REP. NO.  692-10

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2010

RE:   S.B. No. 2383

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred S.B. No. 2383 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DISLOCATED WORKERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to protect dislocated workers by authorizing the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) to exercise enforcement powers against an employer in a covered establishment to require the employer to adhere to and comply with the notification and penalty provisions of section 394B-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

     The ILWU Local 142 and Hawaii Government Employees Association testified in support of this bill.  DLIR testified in opposition to this measure.

     Your Committee notes that the 2007 Legislature amended the Dislocated Workers Act to include penalties against an employer for failure to provide notice in the event of a closing divestiture, partial closing, or relocation of a business.  However, to enforce penalties, an aggrieved worker must file a claim in court, subjecting the worker to expense and delays that ultimately serve as a deterrent to seeking the penalties.
     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2383 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Public Employment,

____________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair